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Why Is The U.S. Silently Bombing Syria’s Electricity Network?
The Aleppo power plant is a 1,000 megawatt thermal plant in five units build by Mitsubishi Heavy Industry in 1995-1998. It is situated some 25 kilometers east of Aleppo city center. During the fighting around Aleppo various electricity distribution stations were damaged and electricity in parts of the city has become scarce and unpredictable. But the main power station had so far not been hit.
The plant is in the hands of the Islamic State but there is an informal agreement between the government, which controls the distribution network, and those who hold the power generating station:
[T]he agreement of understanding pertains to the division of the electricity supply between the parties, whereby ISIS will receive 60% of the quota and the Syrian regime will receive 40%.
Both sides will have some electricity and the civilian as well as fighters on both side will be better off than without electricity. No side has a motive to destroy that plant.
But last night the U.S. coalition bombed the Aleppo thermal power plant and destroyed parts of it:
A military source told SANA that warplanes of the Washington alliance violated Syrian airspace and attacked civilian infrastructure in Mare’a, Tal Sha’er, and al-Bab in Aleppo countryside on Sunday.
The source added that the warplanes attacked the biggest electric power plant that feeds Aleppo city, which resulted in cutting off power from most neighborhoods in Aleppo city.
Just a week ago U.S. air attacks had attacked another power station and a big distribution transformer al-Radwaniye also east of Aleppo.
The electricity generation and distribution system is civil infrastructure. It is used and useful to everyone no matter what side of the conflict. After the first U.S. attack on a power station a week ago the Russian president Putin was asked about the strikes. He called them "strange":
"On Sunday, the American aviation bombed out an electrical power plant and a transformer in Aleppo. Why have they done this? Whom have they punished there? What’s the point? Nobody knows," the president said at a meeting with the Russian government members.
The Russians and the Syrians are sure that it were F-16 planes from the U.S. coalition that bombed the power infrastructure even though the coalition reports do no mention the attacks. Why are these bombings not mentioned in the U.S. coalition reports?
The U.S. claims it is only fighting the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. It accuses Russia of not only attacking ISIS even though Russia, and Putin himself, always said that ISIS is not their sole target but that supporting the Syrian government against all its enemies is the overarching aim. The Russian just snuffed out a 16 vehicle ISIS convoy. Something that the U.S. somehow never manages to do. The U.S. itself, by the way, has killed and kills some non-ISIS "moderate rebels". All its complains against the Russians are just nonsense.
But why would fighting ISIS or this or that "moderate rebel" terrorist necessitate the destruction of valuable infrastructure which serves all sides of the Syrian society?
Without the plant Aleppo city, with some 2-3 million inhabitants and refugees, as well as the surrounding areas in Aleppo governate have no electricity. The damage the U.S. bombing caused will make sure that any repair will take a long time. This will make life for people on every side of the war more unbearable and more people will leave to seek refuge in foreign countries.
Is that the purpose of the U.S. bombardment of electricity infrastructure in Syria? If not what else is this supposed to achieve?
@2 Respectfully, I suggest that American spite has nothing to do with it; and that, in the American bombing of the power plant, we see the pursuance of the Oded Yinon Plan [1,2] for the ‘greater Jewish State’ of Eretz Israel [3, 4] by means other than the increasingly frustrated mercenary forces of ISIS/ISIL/Daesh/Al-Nusrah/I-can’t-believe-it’s-not-Mossad.[4]
As far back as 1982, Oded Yinon published a document in ‘Kivunim’ (‘Directions’), the journal of the Department of Information of the World Zionist Organization (yes, such a body exists: http://www.wzo.org.il/world-zionist-organization), in which he suggests a plan of attack in which Israel could surreptitiously foster ethnic and sectarian strife in the Middle East and in Syria, including the support of insurgent groups. Oded Yinon wrote in 1982: “Syria will fall apart, in accordance with its ethnic and religious structure, into several states such as in present day Lebanon, so that there will be a Shi’ite Alawi state along its coast, a Sunni state in the Aleppo area, another Sunni state in Damascus hostile to its northern neighbor and the Druze who will set up a state, maybe even in our Golan”. [5] Oded Yinon had no crystal ball or psychic powers to see the Syria of 2015; he was outlining the plan Israel would go on to implement via the military power of the United States, a nation whose political class is effectively controlled by Israel, through the issuance of APIAC-directed campaign donations [6], through Jewish control of US media [7], through Israeli surveillance of the USA via the NSA [8], and other means.
America gains little from the Syrian disarray or the bombing of the power plant, in the same way it has gained little from any of its MENA warfighting. America has a $4-6 trillion war bill [9, 10], but no strategic economic or military gains.
Only Israel has been the consistent winner from the smashing of Libya, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, etc.
Gadi Eizenkot, Chief of the General Staff in Israel, said in 2015 that Israel has never been stronger in relation to its Arab neighbors. The Jerusalem Post said the same thing in 2014. [11]
Israel now buys 75% of its oil (at a massive discount) from Syrian and Iraqi Kurds, and from the ‘ISIS’ mercenaries [12]. Hizbullah is stretched thin, and Israel has been free to kill with impunity in Gaza, Lebanon, and the West Bank.
Who got the oil contracts from Iraq, post 2003? China. But on the downside, China lost vast oil contracts it had lined up with Libya before Gadaffi’s fall. The International Energy Agency says Libyan oil exports to China dropped by a third from 2011 to 2013 [13], which was a “huge disappointment” for China, as its oil companies had lined up massive contracts in Libya before the conflict [14] and China needed the oil. China has not been a net winner in the Middle Eastern turmoil.
Have the Saudis (led by Sunni, Israel-aligned Wahabbists) been a net winner? No way. KAS’ only strategic ‘opponent’ was, and is, Shia-dominated Iran. That hasn’t changed for the better since 2001. KAS’ national finances are in a dire situation, and KAS is embroiled in a war against Yemen in which it is doing far worse than it expected. KAS is considerably weaker than before, and still a pliant puppet state of Israel [15].
Has any other nation gained from the Middle East’s turmoil and wars, since 2001? None of Israel’s neighbors. Not Turkey. No-one around the increasingly fractious and unstable Mediterranean. None of the BRICS nations or the EU, or Mercosur, or anyone else.
Syria was on the PNAC list for attack, from the moment Israeli-American citizen Kagan (husband of Victoria F–k the EU Nuland) and his cronies wrote the ‘Project for a New American Century’ manifesto for war. All of the mess in Syria – all of it – is the work of committed and psychopathic Zionists.
[1] “Greater Israel: The Zionist Plan for the Middle East”, http://www.globalresearch.ca/greater-israel-the-zionist-plan-for-the-middle-east/5324815
[2] “The Unfolding of Yinon’s “Zionist Plan for the Middle East”: The Crisis in Iraq and the Centrality of the National Interest of Israel”, http://mycatbirdseat.com/2014/07/the-unfolding-of-yinons-zionist-plan-for-the-middle-east-the-crisis-in-iraq-and-the-centrality-of-the-national-interest-of-israel/
[3] “Future Israel”, http://www.ahavat-israel.com/eretz/future
[4] “The Jewish Plan For The Middle East and Beyond”, http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/the-jewish-plan-for-the-middle-east-and-beyond.html
[5] http://guardian.150m.com/palestine/isreal-ME-strategy.htm
[6] “Jewish donors prominent in presidential campaign contributions; Sheldon Adelson is biggest giver of all; Obama’s top two donors also Jewish”, http://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-donors-prominent-in-presidential-campaign-contributions/
[7] “Who runs Hollywood? C’mon – Joel Stein”, http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/19/opinion/oe-stein19
[8] “NSA ‘routinely’ shares Americans’ data with Israel – Snowden leak”, https://www.rt.com/news/nsa-shares-data-israel-723/
[9] “The Iraq War Could Cost More Than $6 Trillion – Business Insider”, http://www.businessinsider.com/why-the-iraq-war-cost-2-trillion-2013-3
[10] “Study: Iraq, Afghan war costs to top $4 trillion”, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/study-iraq-afghan-war-costs-to-top-4-trillion/2013/03/28/b82a5dce-97ed-11e2-814b-063623d80a60_story.html
[11] http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Israel-heading-into-2015-Strong-on-tactics-weak-on-strategy-386382
[12] “Israel turns to Kurds for three-quarters of its oil supplies – FT.com”, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/150f00cc-472c-11e5-af2f-4d6e0e5eda22.html
[13] “Chinese national oil companies’ investments: going global for energy”, http://www.iea.org/ieaenergy/issue7/chinese-national-oil-companies-investments-going-global-for-energy.html
[14] “China, Libya, and Oil: Update “, http://www.chinaafricarealstory.com/2011/08/china-libya-and-oil-update.html
[15] “Saudi/Israeli Terrorist Union: The Wahhabi-Likudnik war of terror”, https://therearenosunglasses.wordpress.com/2013/11/29/saudiisraeli-terrorist-union/
Posted by: BiffaBacon | Oct 20 2015 3:51 utc | 67
@42
The Russian state, and its English-language media, has a love-fest with Kissinger. You can’t open up Russia Insider or RT without reading an article he’s written, or an article about something he’s said. I wront some comments on Russia Insider 9 months ago ona puff piece about Kissinger (their third of a half dozen…) politely pointing out many saw Kissinger as a war criminal for his murderous actions in Cambodia. The comment was up for half a day and people replied to me, then RI deleted my comment. I posted it again. RI deleted it inside an hour. Then they implemented a word filter that prevented anyone, with any IP address (I use different IPs) posting the word ‘Kissinger’ at all for a few days. All very sinister.
Kissinger has been given lots of gongs by the Russian state. I don’t know if they think he still has clout, and that’s why Russian English-language media quotes him and cultivates him. They used to quote Alex Jones all the time in RT, and they quoted the Daily Express last week, so their standards for “expertise” and “sound judgement” are pretty low. I say that as someone who support’s Russia’s actions in Syria. The Russian media has a long way to go before its propaganda is as professional as the West’s!
I have noticed that the editorial/executive boards of most Russian media conglomerates are vastly, disproportionately Ashkenazim. I wonder if that influences their views on Kissinger? I did a count of the Ashkenazim on Russia Insider’s editorial team and senior reporters list in early 2015, and it was about 50%. Many of them were horrendous neocons, or were old hands at the NYT, FT, Economist, etc. That’s extraordinary, although I guess the 50% figure correlates well with ownership of the Russian economy; 50% of Russia’s billionaires are Jewish, most of them enjoying control of assets they appropriated from the Russian state while that drunken fool Yeltsin was ‘in charge’.)
In my darker moment, I suspect that Russia Insider, RT, Sputnik, New Eastern Outlook etc. don’t think an opinion by someone *other* than an Ashkenazim can really matter all that much. (Seriously, think of all the Ashkenazim ‘gatekeepers’ to the alternative media, like Lendman, Sondreir, Finklestein, Margolis, etc. They have a nasty habit of blaming the USA for being warmongering, while sidestepping discussion of Israel’s control of the USA, and Israel writing the PNAC Plan.)
Alternatively, maybe the Russian media thinks that they have to connect somehow with American decision makers, who tend to be Jewish; and to try to cozy up to Israel and avoid appearing ‘antisemitic’. I think that’s a pointless strategy. “Hey, people of America, don’t listen to the Western media with its 10,000 Ashkenazi journalists, newsreaders, producers, scriptwriters and commentators! Listen to us, with our hundred Ashkenazim!” The cards are kind of stacked in the American Ashkenazim’s favor, you know? 😉
Posted by: BiffaBacon | Oct 20 2015 4:19 utc | 70
BiffaBacon@57
Enjoyed reading your post. I think you are over stating something, however:
Who got the oil contracts from Iraq, China.
Before I comment, just want to ask… are you talking about “purchase agreements”, or production of Iraqi oil fields? I’ve read China is getting somewhere around +/- 12% of it’s oil from Iraq now. Bloomberg corroborated this in January 2015. Couldn’t find 2015 numbers for Iraq oil exports by country with quick Google.
However, I just wanted to point out: oil field developent has been awarded largely to Western multi-nationals. Exxon, BP, Dutch Shell in particular.
Al Jazeera (2012):
Juhasz explained that ExxonMobil, BP and Shell were among the oil companies that “played the most aggressive roles in lobbying their governments to ensure that the invasion would result in an Iraq open to foreign oil companies”.
Iraq’s oil reserves may be second only to Saudi Arabia’s [EPA]
“They succeeded,” she added. “They are all back in. BP and CNPC [China National Petroleum Corporation] finalised the first new oil contract issued by Baghdad for the largest oil field in the country, the 17 billion barrel super giant Rumaila field. ExxonMobil, with junior partner Royal Dutch Shell, won a bidding war against Russia’s Lukoil (and junior partner ConocoPhillips) for the 8.7 billion barrel West Qurna Phase 1 project. Italy’s Eni SpA, with California’s Occidental Petroleum and the Korea Gas Corp, was awarded Iraq’s Zubair oil field with estimated reserves of 4.4 billion barrels. Shell was the lead partner with Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd., or Petronas, winning a contract for the super-giant Majnoon field, one of the largest in the world, with estimated reserves of up to 25 billion.”
So Western, and US producers, have a large foot print. This from the same article:
Juhasz explained that ExxonMobil, BP and Shell were among the oil companies that “played the most aggressive roles in lobbying their governments to ensure that the invasion would result in an Iraq open to foreign oil companies”.
Iraq’s oil reserves may be second only to Saudi Arabia’s [EPA]
“They succeeded,” she added. “They are all back in. BP and CNPC [China National Petroleum Corporation] finalised the first new oil contract issued by Baghdad for the largest oil field in the country, the 17 billion barrel super giant Rumaila field. ExxonMobil, with junior partner Royal Dutch Shell, won a bidding war against Russia’s Lukoil (and junior partner ConocoPhillips) for the 8.7 billion barrel West Qurna Phase 1 project. Italy’s Eni SpA, with California’s Occidental Petroleum and the Korea Gas Corp, was awarded Iraq’s Zubair oil field with estimated reserves of 4.4 billion barrels. Shell was the lead partner with Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd., or Petronas, winning a contract for the super-giant Majnoon field, one of the largest in the world, with estimated reserves of up to 25 billion.”
Telling. Admittedly, this article is dated (3 years): I paid close attention until about that time, but fully acknowledge paying little attention since then.
I always assumed the purpose of US’s $1B embassy there was (and corroborated by much I read at the time) was not proper Embassy business, rather to provide comfy office space for oil execs to have large, direct and local “presence” steering development.
So anyway, I’d caution against making sweeping statements as… “Who got the oil contracts from Iraq, China”.
Posted by: jdmckay | Oct 20 2015 14:29 utc | 83
Waaaaaayoutwest@85
The last reports I read a few years ago stated that these Western and Iraq contracts were not production sharing agreements but only oil field services contracts which protect Iraq’s control of its resources while gaining the needed expertise and funding to produce and sell their oil.
Could be, I wouldn’t argue. From time I spent this morning, info is “sparse”. But then, I’m several years out of touch with knowing where to go with this sort of thing. What I do remember clear as day:
1) Reading approx. 4 years ago, the Exxon had been awarded contract to develop (I believe) Iraq’s West Qurna field, then (don’t know about now) believed to be 2nd largest on the planet behind SA’s Ghawar. This received little press here.
2) What I also recall, again dug up by some of our great intrepid bloggers (I don’t recall which) I think after Wikileaks began publishing, was memos between Exxon execs and GWB literally salivating over prospect of getting control of West Quma. This was dated approx. 1 year before we invaded.
When I was keeping on top of stuff like this, was pretty easy to GOOGLE up good info. So I’m ready to believe much of this stuff is being kept under wraps.
What also feeds this “notion” (under wraps): about this same time (long after the fact), I spent the better part of a full day GOOGLING/reading on Bush Sr’.s 1st incursion (Kuwait). There was limited info available when Junior “liberated” Iraq, that Sadaam had petitioned the UN to intervene repeatedly (over 6-18 months, I don’t recall) claiming Kuwait was “angle drilling” across the border into Iraq’s fields (3 of them, not just Rumaila, as was largely reported). Our Iraqi UN ambassador at the time (I don’t recall her name), had “carried the water” to kill Sadaam’s petition. She had been called & quoted on this, and was very suspiciously evasive. So around ’03-4, AFAIK… this is all that was known.
Again, about 5 years ago I decided to revisit this as I mentioned. What I found was a treasure trove of good documentation substantiating Sadaam’s claims, from multiple quarters. It was beyond convincing.
Did this search again this morning… nothing.
Somebody’s doing some housecleaning.
One other thing, during both Bush’s incursions: Both Bush Sr. and James Baker had extensive oil interests in Kuwait. I’ve read most of Baker’s wealth (I can’t document it, so…) came from this. Much of his biz there was in partnership with Bush Sr. This hardly made the news, was entirely off the radar.
And lastly (just for a little recap), lest we forget… Bush Sr.’s Kuwait “effort” was approved by US Senate by ONE vote (acquired through heavy handed pressure only 24 hrs. before the vote). Multiple Senators said years later, when it was revealed the tear jerking Senate testimony about Iraq soldiers and “incubator babies” was a manufactured lie, they all said had they known that they never would have approved. Bush’s admin arranged for this testimony.
Or in other words, this whole sordid disaster began with a deliberately concocted lie (Bush Sr.): not an intelligence “failure” or “mistake”, but a deliberate deception that changed the world and led to (now) 25 years of domino like destruction. All initiated on lies, all the way through no WMD’s.
Given Bush Sr. and Baker’s oil interests in Kuwait, not that big a stretch to believe they did this for their own personal interests. After all, Sadaam had been US proxy in Iran war (our guy, chosen and installed by Reagan, for a long time. And Kuwait was not strategically important, and led by a (IMO) disgustingly opulent crew pleasuring themselves constantly in more oil dollars per/capita then any other country.
I remember when we invaded, the solid gold toilets and sinks in their bathrooms.
Iran on the other hand was required to offer production sharing agreements with Western Oil to get their badly needed funding and technology from the West following the relaxing of sanctions.
I’ll take your word for that, haven’t read it (but I haven’t read the agreement)… you referring to recent (nuke agreement) sanctions? Hard for me to believe Iran would agree to that.
Posted by: jdmckay | Oct 20 2015 20:52 utc | 90
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